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Cardinal Pell’s (white) baby push is environmental madness
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Cardinal George Pell’s claim that “no Western country is producing enough babies to keep the population stable” is a pure flight of fancy. The United States and New Zealand both have fertility rates of about 2.1, which is the long-term replacement level. True, fertility rates are below the replacement level of 2.1 in many Western countries. Interestingly, the traditionally Catholic countries of southern Europe, including Italy and Spain, have among the lowest rates in the world. But this does not mean populations are declining or will decline any time soon. For Australia, with a fertility rate of 1.85, the most recent ABS projections suggest our population will grow to between 25 million and 33 million by 2050. It may well continue to grow beyond that. Nor is this due solely to migration: Australia’s “natural increase” — the excess of births over deaths — was around 130,000 last year and will continue to be positive for at least another few decades as individuals born in previous periods of high fertility move through their reproductive years. One has to wonder also about Cardinal Pell’s preoccupation with fertility in Western countries, when the global population is projected to peak at a minimum of 9 billion by 2050. Surely he’s not suggesting the Joneses have to keep up with the Lius and the Hassans in some sort of global population contest? The growing material expectations of a growing global population are adding immensely to the great stress that unsustainable lifestyles in industrialised countries have placed on our natural environment. There are many challenging goals Australia should be aiming for in the next 50 years, but having more babies is not one of them. If Cardinal Pell is in favour of growing populations, he should be prepared to explain how that preference can be squared with the imperative to rapidly reduce our greenhouse pollution levels and to adjust to a world in which water, oil and other key resources are nowhere near as plentiful as they have been in the past. |
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11 Comments
The higher up the evangelical ladder the leaders of the Catholic church get; the more they would (in private) agree it’s a rotten, foetid and putrid religion. Can’t anyone see these same men after dinner, relaxed and smoking the best Havana Havana cigars and drinking the finest Cognac in the world. Cognac de Charente, Grande champagne (folle blanche) 1933, whilst female servants (nuns) silently wait on their masters. I’m not talking about the George Pells of this word. He is strictly small time, I’m talking the men of the Papal court. Having reached this lofty point; why should they let a few ethics get in the way. Certainly it’s an evil religion, but ah how the goodies roll in. Why shouldn’t they preach unmitigated clap trap? The oafs are so stupid they keep buying it.
“Father Paul, who is the little boy in the choir I saw you talking to this morning? He was unusually — — ”
“Fair my lord Cardinal?”
“Just so. I would like to hear him sing in private.”
“I’ve already told him to await your pleasure.”
“Excellent, excellent, pass the decanter will you?”
the weirdest bit about Pell’s comments is they are made by an old geezer who has supposedly married God* and committed himself to celibacy (and by extention, never having kids). Whether Pell has or hasn’t lived according to his vows we will probably never know (I don’t want to!) but we know the irreparable damage that such vows have had on poor little boys from normal families (as distinct from Holy Families). The idea that Pell and his cronies some how have the inside running on what’s best for marraige and the institution of the family is ludicrous!
**or is is only women called Sister Damien who marry Jesus? Do priests marry the Holy Ghost?
More souls,more votes-more votes, more power-more power, more money-too easy eh?
Robert
Cardinal Pell should stick to worrying about b*ggery. As long as the Catholic Church thinks it is being out bred in the fertility stakes by other religions it will never agree to contraception. As long as the women of the world are prepared to sit passively while men dictate their lives-why can’t they strike back. Men would-As long as ignorance, apathy and despair are the dominant factors in life. So will the women be docile and pliant. Men would never allow priests to interfere in their lives if they were the ones who had babies. It seems the time will never come when women cease loving the chains that bind them. Make no mistake, it is the women who are allowing population explosion. Even if it means sacrificing their own lives they should do it. And people are saying that fa*ting cows that are producing the most greenhouse gas. I’m sooo sorry, but it’s the women of this world who are the greatest polluters of all.
Clearly, Pell has raised a serious issue. If Western countries don’t produce enough people, we won’t have enough white candidates to guarantee a white pope. And where would the Catholic church be then? It might have to select a pope who was Asian, or God forbid, African. Outrageous!
Cardinal Pell makes me glad I’m an atheist
“Surely he’s not suggesting the Joneses have to keep up with the Lius and the Hassans in some sort of global population contest?” Why not? It’s clearly not unthinkable:
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0895260786/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_5?%5Fencoding=UTF8&filterBy=addFiveStar
I count myself an atheist friend or friendly acquaintance of the Cardinal and understand him to be concerned about preserving Western civilisation which I think he probably sees as not only mainly a creation of Christianity but as including the Englightenment’s many good features within the Christian achievement. And, even if one only values Western civilisation as the fount of humane modernity he is right to worry about the bearers of that civilisation are not reproducing, particularly educated women who breed later and less. Charles Berger seems to have the real religious temperament - and the ACF feeds at the public teat even more than tax exempt churches - and might usefully answer sceptics by looking at http://brneurosci.org/co2.html and going to the passages with “logarithmic” in them. Then he can tell the world why it is’t true to say that infra red (heat) absorption by CO2 in the atmosphere isn’t linear, let alone exponential, but logarithmic so that at some point, maybe close, additional CO2 in the atmosphere won’t add to the heat.
Huh!!!!!
What about all the support from the Aboriginal Catholic congregation - doesnt account for much apparently! Hope they begin to realise a few home truths….
Although I am not a papal fan I find it hard to understand these orchestrated attacks on the Catholic Church and its teachings. Catholic Church is not the only church to encourage more babies. Our own IVF program encourages infertile women to produce kids artificially. Most religions advocate growth of their creed. And no one criticises Dalaj Lama for expressing very similar to the Pope’s views re: condoms, abortions, chastity, etc. If we are really a tolerant country this tolerance should apply to all legal denominations in this country. And as for the celibacy? It should, and really is, the best deterrent to reproduce whilst Protestant pastors, Mormons, Moslems, Greek Orthodox, Buddhistsa and Chinese -whatever-the -denomination enjoy proliferation. Catholicism, is a Christian religion: both entry and exit are free. Not everybody has to follow Ten Commandments. The recent attacks on the representatives of the Roman-Catholic Church reminds me of the old English-Irish conflict. Is is still on? Afterall, free from celibacy Anglican clergy did contribute to child abuse, did it not? Do we have right to critise our Head of Church, the Queen of Australia, for the Anglican clergy child abuse.?
What Pell said is not only ludicrous but totally irresponsible but worse than that are the sheep that will listen to him and obey. Perhaps the catholic church will committ sufficient funds to counteract the enviromental damage increased population will have on food supplies and nature itself or better yet the Vatican can fund organic farms in the poorer countries where condoms are not permitted to feed all the little ones.